Jobs's Mob has lost a key appeal against a ruling that cleared rival Samsung of copying its registered designs for tablet computers.

The move could signal the end of the "thermonuclear" patent war between the two companies, at least in the EU.

According to the Guardian, Britain's Appeal Court upheld a High Court judgement that ruled that Samsung's Galaxy tablet did not infringe Apple's designs, in part because its products were "not as cool".

This decision is valid throughout Europe and should stop further legal disputes between the two companies over the design of tablets.

Samsung welcomed the decision saying in a statement: "We continue to believe that Apple was not the first to design a tablet with a rectangular shape and rounded corners".

Apple said nothing. It has been told by the UK court that it has to run advertisements saying Samsung did not copy its registered tablet designs, both on its website and in selected newspapers.

Of course it could go to the Supreme Court, but it is incredibly unlikely that it would reverse the decision. The only other option would be to ask the Queen who apparently is an Apple fanboy and might do what she is told. Legal experts say they would be surprised.

In the US, a jury decided that Apple had invented the rounded rectangle, but that case is likely to be appealed, after the jury foreman appeared to have directed his fellows to ignore little things like evidence. It was later revealed that he had been sued by a Samsung partner which is something he forgot to mention during jury selection.